The large computer screen displays and high resolution pixel densities that are now in widespread use make it possible to display many more characters per line than was previously possible. For example, a 21″ monitor with 1280×1024 resolution can display upwards to 200 or more alphanumeric characters or other discrete language symbols per line using a visually acceptable size font, such as a 10 point font.
While such large screen displays have the capability to display a large number of alphanumeric characters per line, commonly used text-based documents have a form that is incompatible to a greater or lesser extent with displaying such a large number of characters on a single line. For example, source code rarely goes over 80 characters per line, so it inherently is unable to take advantage of such capacity. Also, the lines of text in printed media, such as newspapers or books, become more difficult or unwieldy to read if too long, such that the reader may be required to turn his or her head to read a line, and potentially lose track of what line of text they are on when traversing from the end of one line to the beginning of the next. As a result, most documents do not exceed approximately 100 characters per line. Thus, while a single line of text could extend from one side of a 200 character per line display to the other, such a display would not likely be preferred by most individuals.